Description
Book SynopsisHigher cognitive functions are reliably predicted by working memory measures from two domains: children''s performance on complex span tasks, and infants'' looking behavior. Despite the similar predictive power across these research areas, theories of working memory development have not connected these different task types and developmental periods. The current project works to bridge this gap with a processoriented theory, focusing on two tasks assessing visual working memory capacity in infants (the change-preference task) versus children and adults (the change detection task). Previous results seem inconsistent, with capacity estimates increasing from one to four items during infancy, but only two to three items during early childhood. A probable source of this discrepancy is the different task structures used with each age group, but prior theories were not suffi ciently specific to relate performance across tasks. The current theory focuses on cognitive dynamics, that is, the form
Table of ContentsI. WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY IN CONTEXT: MODELING DYNAMIC PROCESSES OF BEHAVIOR, MEMORY, AND DEVELOPMENT 25
II.THE COGNITIVE DYNAMICS THEORY OF VISUAL WORKING MEMORY 56
III. EMPIRICAL TESTS OF PREDICTIONS COMPARING CAPACITY ESTIMATES ACROSS TASKS AND DEVELOPMENT 82
IV. MODEL SIMULATIONS TESTING THE REAL-TIME STABILITY HYPOTHESIS OF DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN VISUAL WORKING MEMORY 109
V. NEW QUESTIONS AND REMAINING CHALLENGES TO ACCOUNT FOR DEVELOPMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS IN VISUAL WORKING MEMORY 128
REFERENCES 139
APPENDIX 148
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 149
COMMENTARY 159
EXPLORING THE POSSIBLE AND NECESSARY IN WORKING MEMORY DEVELOPMENT 160
Nelson Cowan
CONTRIBUTORS STATEMENT OF EDITORIAL POLICY 162
SUBJECT INDEX
